Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) on Tuesday declared that the world's most expensive and unusual coffee extrected by civet cat was halal or not forbidden according to Islamic law, chairman of the council Umar Shihab said here, dismissing concern that the commodity's growing industry from collapse, Xinhua reported.
The decision was made following concern that the coffee so called "Kopi Luwak," mix with the feces of the cat during fermentation at the stomach, which can make it unclean and against the Islamic law for consumption.
"After we investigated, the coffee bean does not mix with the feces, there is a layer of skin of the bean which separate it with the feces. So it is halal," he told Xinhua after the council meeting on the issue.
The council would soon issue an edict or fatwa for the decision this month, the chairman said.
The demand of the commodity has been on the rise from consumers in Europe, the United States and other foreign countries due to its smooth taste and bitterless flavor, spokesman of the Indonesian Trade Ministry Robert Bintaryo told Xinhua.
The price of the coffee is more than 800 U.S. dollars per kilo gram, he said.
"This is a potential commodity for us in the coming years," said Bintaryo.
The limit of production has also made the price of the coffee higher than ordinary coffee, he said.
Indonesia has also sought the Middle East markets for its exports products.
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country where over 238 million of its population are Muslims.
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